


Mutt

by Falafel_Waffel



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, First Time, Human Experimentation, Mutant, POV Multiple, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-07
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-09 09:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falafel_Waffel/pseuds/Falafel_Waffel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They said it was an extension of the Human Genome project… They lied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Chelzie for taking on another one of my projects. :D This one won't be quite as long as SempFi though. <3

_May 10, 1994_

_Project Mutt, Day 1_

_Haymitch Abernathy_

A missing person’s report is issued for two day old Katniss Marie Everdeen, but she’ll never be found. Once an infant is chosen, they’re taken from the hospital or even the parents’ own home. I don’t know how the Snatchers do it. I don’t  _want_  to know.

Her mother and father give press conferences, begging for the kidnapper to return their daughter to them. No one’s been smart enough to connect the twenty-three other kidnappings that have taken place around the country and even the world.

I’m not even sure how I got this job. I was told it had something to do with the Human Genome Project. When I arrived at the Panem Institute a year ago, I was told I would be observing the effects of genetic mutations over time.

Two years later, the first stage of the project is a success.

That’s when I met them, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, or should I say the Department 12 male and Department 12 female. We’re told not to get too attached.

Most of my colleagues, or ‘mentors’ as they call us, want to back out the second we’re handed toddlers, but the director has something on all of us. So we bide our time, until the ‘Mutts’ (as we’re told to call them) are older, wiser… and ready to fight.

—

_Project Mutt, Day 6594_

_Mutt Status:_

_Department 1:_

_Male: Lashed out on 5F. Suppression collar still required after attempted escape. Euthanization being considered._

_Female: Nothing to report._

_Department 2:_

_Male: Collapsed Training Room 4. Suppression collar placed._

_Female: Attacked 12F. Euthanization being considered._

_Department 5:_

_Male: Euthanized today. Reason: Genetic instability, organs failing._

_Female: Still needs suppression collar. Cannot be trusted. Vanished for 2 hours. Euthanization no longer considered. Most stable of the remaining 9._

_Department 11:_

_Male: Nothing to report_

_Female: Not sure of limitations. Kept to garden._

_Department 12:_

_Male: Nothing to report_

_Female: Volatile, dangerous, unstable. Cannot be trusted to control herself in group situations. Full potential unknown. Euthanization scheduled for tomorrow._

I gulp as I read the email and quickly close it before heading to the bathroom. I turn both the shower and faucet on before pulling out my cell phone. They have every room bugged except the bathrooms, though the ones in the bedrooms could still pick things up.

“Annie told me. Move tonight.” 


	2. Chapter 2

_My legs burn, and every inch of my body screams for me to stop running. But I can’t stop, we could never stop._

_I squeeze Peeta’s hand, “Run!” I feel the ground shaking under my feet._

_“No!” I spin on my heels and feel it, the early licks of power._

_Peeta takes me by my arm and pulls me to the ground just as a wall of fire ignites tall. It’s deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing. “Run! Katniss, we have to get out of here!”_

_I don’t argue. If we stay, we’re dead. If we run, we’re also dead but we’ll last a lot longer._

_“Mutts! You are property of Coriolanus Snow and the Panem Institute!” I look over my shoulder, ready to attack but Peeta pulls me away._

_“Katniss, I can’t lose you. You’re all I have!” I know he’s right. Sixteen years together and this is it. We’re alone in the world, especially since Haymitch and the others are somewhere out in these woods._

_“Male and Female Twelve!” the guard shouts, though we refer to them as Peacekeepers._

_I know they’re after me and only me._

_Yes, me, the volatile fire starter who lashed out on her trainer. I’ve endangered them all. Peeta and I quickly run out of ground, allowing our pursuers to gain on us. There’s nowhere to go, other than  a straight shot down. I hold out my hand as the familiar warmth of fire shoots down to the water, showing that no rocks are in our way._

_A wave crashes below us and Peeta grabs my hand as we look over the cliff. “Slow them down!” I shout. He swings his arm and a tree crashes. I clap my hands together and spread them, a half-moon of fire shielding us. He takes both my hands. “ I need you to trust me, Katniss!”_

_“With my life!” I say as the wind whips my hair into my eyes. Hands clasped the wind suddenly stops, and we jump off the cliff into the inky black water below._

* * *

_Gale_

“Give it another go!” The engine grinds and whines horribly. Another truck gone, but at least it survived the winter. “Fuck!” I slam the hood, “Can’t they make a God damned truck that survives Alaska?”

Dad smirks and wipes his hands on the already greasy rag. “Yeah, unfortunately, they were all made after nineteen ninety five…” He’s right; Dad’s truck was getting on in years. Mine wasn’t much better.

“Think the old girl is going to make it up the cabin this weekend?”

I shrug and slam the toolbox closed. “Either she makes it to the cabin, or Jo and I are spending the night in the bed of the truck huddled together for warmth hoping the wolves don’t find us…” I feel the ground shake a little. Over the last few weeks, small earthquakes seemed to plague the area. Everyone was waiting for a volcano to erupt or the end of the world. Dad just laughed and said it was Alaska being Alaska.

“You ask her to marry you yet?” I roll my eyes.

“Shouldn’t we date before, you know… tying the knot?” Dad rolls his eyes and turns out the light in the shop.

“Whatever…”

* * *

Johanna groans, “It took you long enough, Hawthorne. Didn’t your Dad tell you never to keep a lady waiting?”

She slams the door closed and buckles her seatbelt, only after throwing her now bootless feet on the dash. “When I meet a lady, I’ll be sure that she never waits for anything…”

“Asshole…” She opens the cooler she brought and had me shove in the back, pulling out two beers. “Cheers!” she shouts. I turn the car on and throw it in drive. Anywhere else in the country, DUI’s are something you worry about. But here, DUI’s, even the underage ones, are practically unheard of. The cops and state troopers are far too busy keeping the wildlife from reclaiming the town.

“Cheers…” Three beers in and we’re well out of Fairbanks, heading towards my dad’s hunting cabin. The highway is lit with the pale greens of the Aurora Borealis.

“Crazy…” she muses, leaning forward to watch the colors squirm in the air. “I’ll never get used to seeing this…” I pull the truck over. “What are you…?”

“Come here…” I throw the truck in park as she slides across the front seat into my lap.

“The back?” she asks before pressing her lips against mine. Johanna and I have never put a title on our relationship. It was her demand that we weren’t a couple, instead friends with a lot of benefits and more pregnancy scares than we could count on our hands and feet.

“I’ve always said I wanted to fuck you in the bed of my truck…” She bites her lip and I growl. I love it when she does that. Johanna grabs the blanket from the backseat while I grab the rifle. You can never let your guard down out here.

The truck doesn’t shift as she hops in the bed and lays down the blanket, but does creak some when I get in. “Two years and we’ve never done this,” she sighs as she lays out the old flannel blanket we’ve used so many times. It’s a cool evening; her nipples already hard and obvious through her cotton bra and tank top.

We’re long past getting each other naked, the nights of clumsy passion dead and gone like the winter. We’re all about the feeling. My Dad calls us animals, which is closer to the truth.

Johanna pounces on me, already naked and not waiting for me to take off my clothes. She skillfully rips off my belt, then tugs down my jeans and boxers. “Oh, Mister Hawthorne… have I gotten you all hot and bothered?” she purrs, pressing me into the back of the truck while taking me into her mouth.

She’s perfection - short dark hair with large, dark eyes that never leave mine as her head bobs, “Fuck, Jo…” My fingers catch some in the gel she uses to keep her hair up, messing with her faux hawk. Some guys would like some more hair to work with as a good handle, but with a mouth like hers…

I feel her tongue along my length as she gives my balls a light squeeze. She knows what this does to me and I force her away. She lands roughly and I almost feel bad. Johanna is a tough girl and she knows better than to let her head hit.

My lips crash against hers as I press some of my weight on her. She’d never want anyone to know it, but she gets off by getting me and only me off. We tried bringing a third person into the bedroom with us, a small blonde. But Johanna quickly became disinterested, rushed everything and kicked her out the second we were done so she could pounce on me again.

I palm her some, putting two of my fingers inside her while the heel of my hand rubs her clit roughly. “Fuck! Gale!” she screams, her hips lifting off the blanket. I don’t bother covering her mouth, since there’s no one out here. “Go…” she moans, “Sit back up!” I pull my fingers from her and shove them in her mouth. She rolls her eyes and licks while pressing me up against the truck again and climbing into my lap. “That was a jerk move…” she pants, running her fingers through my hair and tugging back, exposing my neck. Her teeth dig in before she begins sucking.

“What are you going to do about it?”

She jerks her head back and licks her lips, “I’m going to fuck the shit out of you…” It’s so fierce and sexy coming out of her. I guide her in and let her do the rest. She has me well trained.

We’re well versed in the language of each other’s bodies. I know when she’s getting close because her moans go an octave higher. She knows how my thrusts get jerkier, or how when she’s on top, I’ll dig my nails into her to hold on and keep her going when I’m getting close.

When she realizes this, she’ll stop bouncing up and down and start the slow teasing grinds back and forth. They’re small movements, letting me know she’s in charge right now and I won’t get release until _she’s_  ready. That is, until I move forward, since I’m much stronger than her. Suddenly, she’s on her back, too confused to argue as I lean back and lift one of her legs over my shoulder, driving into her. The blanket slides a little, but for the most part we don’t move. “I love how the Northern Lights light up your skin…” She rolls her eyes but I thrust into her again as hard as I know she can handle.

“Fuck you…”

I bring my hand down, thumbing her clit to stop her from arguing more. Her back arches in response and I know she’s close. “You did…” She writhes under me, the blanket twisting around her muscular arms as she screams my name for the forest to hear. Two more thrusts and I pull out, spilling my seed on her stomach. No more pregnancy scares for us, hopefully. I look up from her glazed over eyes and throw myself back.

“What the fuck!” I shout. My first reaction is to grab the rifle, but it flies out of my hands and into those of the boy who’s staring at me. Johanna comes to, covers herself with the blanket out of shame.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” she yells. “Go away!” Clearly, she didn’t see the gun magically fly from my hands.  Johanna pulls on her tank top and shorts, ignoring her bra and underwear in her blind rage.

I watch the man’s eyes travel from my eyes down below the belt. I lean forward, shoving him away. “Fuck, go away, what do you want?”

He looks to the woods as I zip my jeans. “We heard screaming…” he says, holding out his hand to someone, “It’s safe…” A similarly dressed woman with dark hair and pissed off grey eyes appears from the shadows, taking his hand. Both of them are clad in dark pants and black shirts with red twelve’s on the sleeves and breast. The only thing different about the girl is that there’s a bleeding cut on her forehead and her shirt looks damp as well.

“You hurt this girl?” I ask, hopping out of the truck bed and snatching the gun from his hands. He doesn’t even seem to know what he’s holding. The man backs up, but I grab his shirt with one hand. “You fucking hit a girl?”

“Peeta!” she screams, “Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him!”

There’s a glow brighter than the Northern Lights and the air grows hot, “Katniss!” The blonde man hisses, his eyes grow wide.

The gun is once again ripped from my free hand. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Johanna uses the butt of the rifle to knock the girl to the ground just as her hair ignites.

“What the fuck, man!” I push him away, “What is she!?”

“ _Katniss_. Her name is Katniss.” In his shocked state, however, he’s barely able to get the words out.

“Cat… nip?” I ask, watching him bend over to cradle the unconscious girl’s head.

“No… Katniss,” he says clearly, brushing her hair from the bloody cut on her forehead. “She’s fine…” he sighs, “She’s fine…” He smiles and hugs her to him. She’s completely out cold, jaw slack and limbs limp.

“How can you tell? Jo hit her pretty hard…” Though she was  _glowing_ , so who knows? At least I think that was her…

“I can still hear her…” he mutters. Johanna pulls me away from the two.

“We need to get in the truck and leave these two to the bears!” she hisses in a low voice.

“Johanna… she’s bleeding, he seems confused. Plus, you did knock her unconscious…”

“Her hair was on fucking fire, her skin was glowing!”

There’s a howl in the distance. “We’re bringing them to the cabin,” I tell her. “We can’t just leave them out here. I don’t want their deaths on my conscious.”

She throws her arms in the air exasperatedly, “Fine! But they’re going in the bed…” I roll my eyes.

“Get in the bed of the truck,” I order. “You can’t stay out here especially with her out cold.” He just nods and tries to stand with her, “I’ll hand her to you.” Johanna walks around the front and gets in the truck, her eyes on us.

The girl, Katniss, is light, and hot, but not in the physical sense, well… kind of. “She’s sick, running a fever,” I grunt, handing the limp girl to him.

Peeta shakes his head. “No, that’s just how she is, that’s how they made her…” He sinks into the bed and wraps her in the blanket.

“They?”

He shakes his head again. “Don’t ask questions. You’ll get your answers once we’re safe…” He strokes Katniss’ hair affectionately, or just attentively, keeping her hair out of the cut on her forehead.

I swallow hard. I’m going to need a few more beers.

 


	3. Chapter 2

_Katniss_

_Buzzing lights - were they always there or am I just noticing them now? Have they always so loud? Where am I? Who am I?_

_“Female Twelve is awake. Male is still under,” I wince as my eyes open, the white lights blinding me. The only thing covering me is a thin white sheet. Wires and tubes, that’s all I’m dressed in. Little stickies on my chest, head and stomach let the Institute monitor everything._

_“Open,” the voice commands. A pair of blue gloves shove a thermometer in my mouth, while another set tightens the cuff on my arm. When it release,  I can feel the blood flowing through the cut off veins and arteries. “She’s still at 103.2.”_

_“Good, good. We’ve tried bringing down her fever with medication, cold compresses, everything. Looks like that’s the next evolution…”_

_“W-water,” I choke out, my tongue like sandpaper._

_“You’re not done yet. You’ll have water when we’re through…”_

_I sit up and begin pulling off the stickies and removing the tubes. “I said water!” Everything’s white, so white and my eyes burn, “I’m thirsty!”_

_They all have caps and masks on, so I can’t tell who is who. “Haymitch!” I cry. He’ll help, he’ll get me water. I’m so thirsty._

_“Someone restrain her!” Hands grab at me, and my IV’s are ripped out in the struggle. I scream and scream until my throat is sore, which takes no time at all, fighting against my keepers on the sterile floor._

_Everything feels different. A small surge of power starts in my chest and radiates outward. Someone screams in pain and the hands release me, “She… She’s on fire!”_

_I look down at my hands. No one moves as the shell of fire dances around my fingers. “You have to wake up…” I look to the other bed where Peeta is watching me. “It’s just a dream, we’re not there anymore…”_

_The chill of fire extinguishers puts out the flames and threatens to choke me. I scream and fall to the ground, the pain being too much._

_Something’s wrong… Everything’s wrong… This place smells different…_

My eyes shoot open. “Where am I?” I ask, squeezing my hand. For the first time since we left the Institute, my fingers aren’t laced with Peeta’s. In a panic, I throw the blankets off and stumble out of bed.  _Dizzy, so dizzy…_ I want to get sick as I stand up but the door flies open.

“Katniss!” Peeta’s face lights up and he rushes to me. “Please, lay down.” I bring my hand up and touch the bandages around my head.

“Are we safe?” I ask. He doesn’t answer at first. “Are. We. Safe?”

Peeta sighs. “Haymitch and the others have left the area. They’re heading to the safe house… we’re still being hunted, but without chips, they can’t find us…”

I ball my fist. “Haymitch left us. He left us to die!” I hiss, my vision becoming spotted.

“Katniss…” He’s always so even, so composed, “He had no choice…”

I bite my lip. Peeta’s right. If we didn’t split up, the others would have been captured. They were slower with the young girl in tow.

“Why were you dreaming about when we were kids?”

I want to get out of bed, get away from this conversation. Why was I dreaming about the early years, when I could only light things on fire and he could only feel when I was getting pissed off?

Before things got… complicated.

“Please. Haymitch had me monitoring your mind while you were out to be sure you didn’t slip into a coma. He’s getting a little over protective.”

“Can’t you flip a switch and turn it off?” He shakes his head and gets up, pulling two backpacks off the chair across from the bed. It’s time to take inventory.

“How much money do we have?” Haymitch said we’d need money to get to the safe house.

I flip through the little blue book. _Passport, United States of America_ is on the cover. "Oh, this is yours..." I feel my brows crease as I compare the two of us. Peeta's older than me, not by much, but still older. "Your date of birth is before mine..."

"How much?" he asks while counting the money."Months, years?"

"Yours is March the twentieth, nineteen ninety four; mine is May the eighth of the same year."

He smiles a little. "Haymitch said there should be two Social Security cards in there and to remember the number. We may need them..."

"Yeah, here they are. How much money do we have?"

"One second. Two, three, four, five..." he pauses, "Five thousand each."

"Is that enough? How does it work?"

"I think you just give it to people, the amount they request... I don't know. I suppose I could ask Gale and Johanna. We'll have to set out soon..."

I nod. Once I feel better we'll have to get going, and out of these people’s lives. "If anyone finds us here, they'll kill them..."

Peeta stiffens and nods slowly, "We won't let that happen..."

I look over his shoulder at the backpack resting at his folded legs, "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Under the little... here, give me the bag..." He does what I ask and I poke at a bulge in the backing of the bag. It’s rectangular, about a half an inch thick. How did we miss this? There's one sloppily sewn seam that is definitely Effie's handiwork. I give it one quick tug, and the thread snaps. I find a folder thick with papers and metal clips that organizes it all.

"Peeta..."

"You guys are so strange..." It’s the woman, the one who knocked me out. "It's like you can talk without talking..."

"Sorry..." Peeta starts, "Bad habit..." I swallow, realizing our entire conversation has taken place in our heads.

She gets off the wall she's leaning on, stiff as a board. She obviously doesn't trust me. "So, you can…you can speak without talking?"

"Only Peeta, and the one he wants to talk to," I mumble, pulling out the folder. I don’t have time or the patience to entertain a stranger.

_Project Mutt: Year 18_

_Department 12_

I run my fingers along the words. _Open it, just open it. What's the worst you can find?_

The papers have been carefully sorted. _Katniss, Peeta_ and _Project Background._

At the front of our personal sections are two pieces of paper with twenty three sets of squiggly bars numbered up to twenty two. On the twenty third, mine has two X's where Peeta's has an X and a Y. What makes him hear thoughts and me light things on fire?

No, this was before we were messed with. The top of both papers are labeled _Before Agent._

The paper behind it is labeled _After_.

"Heavy reading material there... chromosomes and shit," she says. I look up at the woman. "I’m Johanna, by the way. You were asleep when we exchanged pleasantries with your boyfriend."

I nod in reply, then look to the paper. "You understand this?"

She shrugs. "I've taken biology before. I don't know what it means, I just know what it is..."

"Oh..." I feel my brow crease.

Johanna yawns and moves to leave the room, but pauses as if she wants to say something. "We'll be gone by tonight. We can't stay in one place for too long..."

“Yeah, sure… too bad we’re apparently stuck with you. Your dear friend Haymitch promised us a sultan’s ransom for running you two down south to Anchorage,” Johanna leaves without waiting for me to respond, the door remaining partially open.

I find my way to a bathroom while Peeta reads the file, sending me tidbits of information while I wash a week’s worth of grime from my skin.

 _You set my cot on fire when we were two... then cried for two hours,_ his voice rings in my head. _Though_ I _was the one with the burns…_

 _I'd do it again too!_  I squeeze shampoo out of my hair and rinse it the rest of the way while scratching at the barcode on my wrist. _So what were they doing when we found them?_ It was strange, who would get naked in the middle of nowhere?

_I don't know, but they were enjoying it. Oh, here it is. When you were six, you started running a fever. It started at one hundred degrees and stayed at one oh three until one day they took your temperature and you melted the thermometer. Shortly after...they learned they could shoot me with a fire extinguisher._

Peeta goes quiet for the rest of my shower.  I shiver, feeling the bite of the white chemical on my skin. No matter how hot I turned the shower, it never felt warm. I had the knob all the way hot and it just feels lukewarm, so I turn it to cold. I hate cold. It doesn’t take it long for the icy stream of water to lower my body temperature. I move the tap up again until it’s hotter than a normal person could handle. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to enjoy a hot shower after a hard day. __

When I'm done, I towel off and braid my hair before heading back into the room we share. Peeta is on the phone when I enter and I drop my towel. "Put your uniform on," he tells me, "The male from one followed us here, and he has the female from his department with him."

I nod, pulling my clothes on. They’re made from well-worn, dark fabric specially designed to withstand my powers, though I've still burned through a few pairs of slacks. The shirts seem to hold up well, though. I tie my boots tight as Peeta dresses.

"How long?"

"Maybe five minutes? Go tell Johanna and Gale to hide. Maybe they haven't seen them yet... Maybe..." I nod and run out of the room.

"Gale? Johanna?"

I find them in the kitchen. She's sitting on the counter, their faces touching at the lips. Why would someone do that? Mouths are for eating and speaking.

"You two have to hide. There are people coming to take care of Peeta and I," They don't move. "Now, please? Unless you want to help?"

"Katniss, now!" I hear from down the hall. I don't check to see if they're hiding, I just run to Peeta. Peeta, who hates fighting more than anything, who can't stand to hurt someone because he can't separate himself from his opponent.

"Ready for this?" I ask, feeling my core warm. It’s a delicious feeling. Peeta says it starts at the ends of my braid, with little licks of flame appearing on the tips of my hair.

"Is this what we trained for?" he asks. "Eighteen years they had us, just long enough to learn how to kill each other?"

I don't look at him, just at the tree line. "No, we trained so they could kill us when something went wrong..."

"Katniss!" he shouts. He doesn't touch me, but I'm pushed to the side just as a deadly polearm sticks into the ground right where I had been standing.

"Show yourself, you coward!" Marvel goes for Peeta first. Personally, I would have taken me out first. I'm not the one who can guess what you're doing next, but what do I know?

Marvel's mutation was his speed. He runs so fast that he's a blur and according to Peeta, his mind works just as quickly. I try to concentrate and light Marvel on fire, but I can't. His body is a blur of dark uniform and the occasional light-colored bit of flesh.

I let my guard down and an arrow flies by me. "You were always a terrible shot, One," I tell Glimmer as flames start licking my fingers. She comes out of the trees, her entire body the clear crystal I've always wanted to break. The sunlight shines through her, casting rainbows on her curves.

It's truly beautiful, but oh so deadly. She charges at me, the fire from my hands doing nothing other than pissing her off. She swings her arm just as I'm jerked back, the razor sharp edges of her nails making quick work of the stomach area of my shirt.

I land on my toes. _Thank you, Peeta!_

_Don't thank me yet... Just in front of me, light that on fire._

Glimmer attacks again, the bow discarded. Glimmer was always better with her hands. She takes another swipe just as the grass in front of Peeta ignites. Glimmer stops her attack and makes a beeline for Peeta as Marvel heads for me. Instead of a direct attack, it's a circle around me, preventing me from reaching Peeta.

"Peeta!" I cry, trying to make my way to him. He can't hold her off but a fist meets my face, knocking me to the ground. A foot to my back keeps me from him. Marvel’s stopped taunting me with his circle. I pull myself off the ground and try for Peeta again. I was never allowed to learn hand to hand techniques, so I almost trip over the polearm now at my feet.

I grasp it and swing wildly, trying to catch Marvel but he dodges me. Good enough, I’ll distract him instead. Unfortunately, a dark blur is all I get. I try to block the blows between my own attacks, a thread of flame here, a failed attempt at finally lighting this ass on fire there. He manages to land a good hit to my cheek, the coppery taste of blood invading my mouth. He didn’t knock a tooth loose; thank goodness for small miracles.

 _Help…_ echoes in my head as I take my eyes off Marvel. “Peeta!” I scream over and over, watching Glimmer’s crystal fingers tighten around Peeta’s neck. Every inch of me feels warm.

 _Don’t lose control, don’t lose control!_  Marvel laughs just before a blast of fire comes off my body, clipping him.

I get up on my feet, straightening out as much as I can when I hear the bang and everything stops. I watch as Glimmer’s head shatters, the bits coming off her turn from crystal to skull and brain. Her body turns into flesh again, her fingers slipping from Peeta’s neck. Both he and the tattered corpse fall to the ground.

“Glimmer!” Marvel shouts. He’s at her body in a flash, shoving Peeta away. “What did you do!” he roars. “What did you do!?”

Her head is gone. It’s not just a chunk missing, but her neck is just a stump. Glimmer was always my least favorite. Without a head, blood spills freely from the corpse like a bottle knocked on its side.

“You’re dead, you and your friends!” I look up at the porch. Gale has a rifle aimed at Marvel, and just like that, he’s gone.

“He’ll be back, we have to go. They’ll be back,” Peeta gasps, trying to catch his breath. I offer him my hand and stumble a little, pulling him to his feet. “I saw in his head…” he coughs.

“Call Haymitch, I’ll get rid of her.” I look up at the porch, “Can I get a shovel?” I shout.

Together, Gale and I dig a hole for Glimmer. He picks up a red container and pours liquid on her body. “Light her up, fire girl,” he smirks.

I barely have to think and the headless body ignites. When the fire goes out, we’ll cover her with dirt.

“I’ve heated her up for hours at a time and not even a crack… what was that?”

Gale digs in his pocket and pulls out two red cylinders.  “Deer slugs,” he shrugs. Gale winces, and rubs his hands as if they’re in pain.

“Here,” I say, reaching for his hands. Peeta had learned hand to hand with the male from two. He would often come back to our dormitory sore all over. I learned the fine art of massage just for this purpose. “I won’t hurt you, I promise…”

I take his hands in mine and he jumps back a little. “Sorry, your hands are warm…”

“I can make them cooler if you want. Heat helps…” He just nods. We stay silent for a minute or so as my thumbs work his calloused hands. “What were you doing naked in the woods? And what was that thing you were doing with your mouth?”

I feel the muscles in his hand tense, what I would give to know what he was thinking. “Seriously? Have you lived underground your whole life?”

“Yes, I have. And you haven’t answered my question, only asked a completely unrelated one. What does my residence for the last eighteen years have to do with the fact that you and Johanna made yourselves vulnerable in the forest and doing whatever that was with your mouths… were you feeding each other?”

 “I… We…” He takes hold of my wrist and pulls me flush against him.

“What are you-“ he silences me with his mouth on mine. It’s soft and makes my lips tingle, but I don’t like it. I push him off me and take a step back.

“The lip thing was called a kiss, and the thing in the back of my truck was called sex. Don’t you and your _boyfriend_ have sex?”

“Peeta is a male, and we’ve been partners for sixteen years. You seem to be implying something.”

His brow furrows in what I assume is frustration. How is _he_ frustrated? “You mean you two aren’t dating? Going out? An item? Together?”

Everything he says confuses me even more. “Peeta and I protect each other. We watch each other’s backs… It’s all we know…”

He snorts. “You two are a strange bunch…”

“And you’re the one putting your lips on another person’s. I didn’t like that, by the way.” He looks wounded and I head back inside.

Johanna is angry. I don’t understand why until I see Peeta rushing around packing things. “What’s going on?” he asks.

“Your _mentor_. How was kissing _my_ boyfriend?” She’s angry. I don’t need to be an empath to know just how angry.

“A little like the time I stopped breathing and someone did CPR on me. Just without the-” I put my hands to my chest right above my heart, “Pumping…”

Her face contorts to what I assume is a mix of anger and amusement.

“Haymitch and everyone had to leave Anchorage, to the next safe house,” Peeta says, throwing my bag at me. “They know where we are, and who is with us. If we don’t move, we’re all dead.”

“Clove?” I ask.

Peeta just nods and I pat a scar from that bitch on my ribs.

“Good!” Johanna quips, “It was getting a little _crowded_ here.”

I just sigh and lift my shirt over my head, walking back to the bedroom to change into what Haymitch calls ‘street clothes’.  Peeta is not far behind.

“Are you okay?” I ask, brushing his neck with my fingers. He flinches away from my touch, “Too hot?”

“No,” his voice is hoarse, “Just sore… they have to come with us…”

I nod, as it makes sense. “Where are we going?”

“Grand Junction, Colorado?” I pull a white shirt over my bra and leave the pants. They look _normal_ enough. “We’ve ruined their lives…” Peeta sighs, “Now…”

“I know…”

It’s an argument, and a loud one involving three calls to Haymitch about the importance of us getting to wherever Colorado is. The others are there, and that’s all I need to know, though Gale and Johanna need a little convincing. Something Haymitch says turns Gale whiter than the walls of the medical ward at the Institute.

Gale and Johanna call their parents, or loved ones. Things Peeta and I don’t have… I think.

_Do you think we have parents?_

I stare out the window, watching the sun set. Peeta’s head rests in my lap, my fingers idly tangling in his hair. _Probably? We were both born…_

 _I want to find them. Do you think they miss me?_ I continue stroking his hair, waiting for a response.

Peeta’s silent, so I look down and find him sound asleep.

_Would they even want me?_


End file.
